Anything Goes

by **Soulmonster** Wed Aug 04, 2010 8:48 pm

ANYTHING GOES

Album:
Appetite for Destruction, 1987, track no. 11.

Written by:
Lyrics: Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin.
Music: Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin and Chris Weber.

Musicians:
Vocals: Axl Rose; lead guitar: Slash; rhythm guitar: Izzy Stradlin; bass: Duff McKagan; drums: Steven Adler.

Live performances:
This song came from Hollywood Rose and was used at the first Guns N' Roses shows. In total it has, as of {UPDATEDATE}, at least been played {AGSONGS} times.

Information:
Chris Weber wrote the early chromatic riff in "My Way, Your Way" (which evolved into Anything Goes) after being inspired by Aerosmith's Rock In A Hard Place [Classic Rock, July 19, 2017].

Lyrics:

I been thinkin' bout
Thinkin' bout sex
Always hungry for somethin'
That I haven't had yet
Maybe baby you got somethin' to lose
Well I got somethin', I got somethin' for you

My way - your way
Anything goes tonight
My way - your way
Anything goes

Panties 'round your knees
With your ass in debris
Doin' dat grind with a push and squeeze
Tied up, tied down, up against the wall
Be my rubbermade baby
An' we can do it all

My way - your way
Anything goes tonight

Quotes regarding the song and its making:

Writing the song:

Me and Izzy and this guy Chris Weber wrote it a long time ago. It's had different verses at different times. Every time I'd do it live, people liked it, but it just depressed the shit outta me on stage. (...) We did it real fast. Then we wrote another version about our times at the old studio and we kept that for a while. Then we came down to record it, we decided we didn't want to cut the track. But Tom [Zutaut; Geffen A&R man] was very adamant about having that song recorded, so we figured 'we're gonna have to rewrite it.' In preproduction we came up with something we liked a lot better, but the verses weren't written until the night we recorded the song. Basically, I just wanted that song an 'anything goes in sex' type song.

Hit Parader, March 1988

Izzy and Axl already had some songs [when I joined the band], and the other guys knew them: "Think About You," "Anything Goes," "Move To The City," "Shadow of Your Love," and "Don't Cry." And we did sped-up punk versions of the Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel".

Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p. 59

That used to be a 12 1/2 minute song.

Hit Parader, March 1988

Used to be speed metal.

Hit Parader, March 1988

There was one that came from way earlier. It's a song called Anything Goes. It's probably the most obscure song on 'Appetite,' and it was rewritten a lot of times before we did that record. Izzy and Axl had been playing it before I came around.

Music Aficionado, August 2017

Playing the first version of the song, "My Way, Your Way, for the first time, probably in January 1984, as AXL:

It was really loud and aggressive and kind of took people by storm.

LA Weekly, July 19, 2017

Introducing the song:

This is our theme song. You get to do anything you want, right? 'Anything Goes.'

The Troubadour, July 20, 1985

Recording the song:

Mike [Clink] asked me to change 'Anything Goes' and that really hit a nerve. "Fuck you, don't tell us how to write songs." I got so pissed because you don't meddle with the music. I pouted, stomped around, and behaved like a real dick. (...) So we tried the idea, and to my surprise, it came out great. My resistance had just been from a deep-seated desire to guard our songs, and no one messes with GNR's tunes. (...) Mike's change happens right when Axl starts singing the first verse. It was initially at a slower time, and his idea made it faster and like I said, better.

"My Appetite for Destruction", 2010

'Anything Goes' is one of the oldest songs on record. If you look at the credits, there are a lot of writers listed for this one because that song was around before Axl and I first hooked up. By the time Guns N' Roses got to it, we'd changed the chorus and the verses around, and Axl rewrote the lyrics. When I recorded the solo on it, I bounced back and forth between the talk box and the electric guitar. If you listen to it, the talk box dips in EQ when it switches over. I didn't know any better because I didn't have one to use live. I remember when we were mixing it, Izzy asked, "Did you mean to do that?" I was like, "Just shut up."

Guitar Edge Magazine, March 2007

Talking about the song:

And after [Think About You] it would be 'Anything Goes' [that is my least favorite,] which is probably the oldest song on the record. By the time we recorded it for Appetite, that song had been played by so many different configurations of the band and gone through so many revisions. It came out cool in the end, I guess, but it's a little choppy as far as arrangement is concerned.

Classic Rock Magazine, July 2007

by 666 Tue May 22, 2012 8:25 pm

was the AFD final version ever played live? I've heard the earlier versions with different lyrics live before but can't recall ever hearing the AFD version live

by **Soulmonster** Tue May 22, 2012 9:30 pm

I don't think it was.

by 666 Tue May 22, 2012 9:36 pm

ahhh, so Anything Goes can be added to the short list of GNR recorded original songs that were never performed live. Get In The Ring, Shotgun Blues, My World, Don't Damn Me, Anything Goes.

by **Soulmonster** Tue May 22, 2012 9:38 pm

I guess we can add 'Sympathy for the Devil' on that list as well as a few numbers from The Spaghetti Incident?!.

by 666 Tue May 22, 2012 9:45 pm

I meant to say original GNR songs. But if you want to add other recorded songs..Sympathy For The Devil and most of TSI.

Off the top of my head, what was played live from TSI? Attitude, bits of Since I Don't Have You, Down On The Farm. I think that's it.

by **Soulmonster** Tue May 22, 2012 9:53 pm

I couldn't remember, but checked the archive and Hair of the Dog has been played at least once.

by **Soulmonster** Tue Jul 18, 2023 1:39 pm

[Talking about debuting the song] It was really loud and aggressive and kind of took people by storm.

LA Weekly, July 19, 2017

by **Soulmonster** Wed Jul 26, 2023 7:59 am

There was one that came from way earlier. It's a song called Anything Goes. It's probably the most obscure song on 'Appetite,' and it was rewritten a lot of times before we did that record. Izzy and Axl had been playing it before I came around.

Music Aficionado, August 2017

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